The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released the results of the Global Study on Homicide 2013 (GSH) which detailed the global prevalence of intentional homicides, finding 437,000 homicides in 2012. The UNODC collected a wide breadth of statistical data including identities of perpetrators and victims, murder weapons, and murder rates by …

The State Council of the Republic of Crimea on Friday voted unanimously in favor of adopting a new constitution that will make Crimea part of the Russian Federation. The constitution, consisting of 10 chapters and 95 articles, defines Crimea as a legal and democratic state within the Russian Federation and makes the nation's territory …

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Thursday that the Netherlands' "piracy levy" tax added to the purchase price of copying materials such as blank CDs or DVDs does not properly account for the loss to copyright holders resulting from unlawful copies of protected work. The court stated that a law that makes no …

Amnesty International (AI) urged the UN Security Council on Friday to extend the MINURSO mandate to include human rights monitoring for its peacekeeping force in Western Sahara . AI sent a report to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon illustrating the immediate need for human rights monitoring in Western Sahara and …

Judge William Pauley of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a class action lawsuit on Thursday against American Express, Citigroup and Discover Financial Services that alleged the three credit card issuers violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by colluding to require that all disputes be settled in …

Experts from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) voiced concern on Thursday about the lack of medical treatment to two political prisoners in Iran who are at risk of dying in detention. The experts have urged the Iranian government to provide medical care to the two prisoners, blogger Mohammad Reza …

A Cambodian court on Friday sentenced 13 men, all members of the self-styled Khmer National Liberation Front, to prison for plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Hun Sen's government. The government accused the men of plotting insurrection and "opposing the nation" by calling for Sen's removal, primarily through anti-government leaflets and internet postings. While the …

The Turkish Constitutional Court on Friday struck down parts of a controversial law that increased Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's control over the judicial system. Amid protests over suspected government corruption and violence inside parliament, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) pushed the bill through parliament. Critics saw the law as a …

The Beijing Supreme People's Court on Friday upheld the four-year prison sentence of legal activist Xu Zhiyong for "gathering a crowd to disturb public order." Xu, a legal scholar, is the founder of the New Citizens' Movement, a grass-roots organization which seeks to draw attention to matters of public discontent, including equal access to …

A German court in Nuremberg on Friday rejected the appeal of bishop Richard Williamson, who was convicted of denying the Holocaust during a TV interview, finding him €1,800. The conviction stemmed from an interview to Swedish TV channel SVT1, broadcast in January 2009, in which Williamson said he doubted that six million …

The UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously voted to approve a peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic (CAR). UN troops, which will be known as MINUSCA, will be made up of up to 10,000 troops, 1,800 police and 20 corrections officers and will not take over until September. French troops are also authorized to …

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Thursday granted an emergency request to force Indiana to immediately recognize a same-sex marriage in a death certificate of a spouse of a couple who wed in another state. The temporary order, which would last 28 days, was requested on behalf of Amy …